EMS World Magazine is the most authoritative source in the world for clinical and educational material designed to improve the delivery of prehospital emergency medical care.
Issue link: https://emsworld.epubxp.com/i/285693
What goes into constructing a safer rig? I t's time to buy a new truck. The old bus has served its purpose and is now on its last legs. You have probably waited too long to make this purchase. As the manager, you are now faced with a common dilemma: Should you purchase a conventional, standard, off- the-rack ambulance, or should you try to be innovative? If so, how do you do this? Do you involve your staff? Do you involve experts? Do you do research? Do you look around you to see what others are doing? The answer is, of course, all of the above. The MIT Experience Having hosted the NAEMT's EMS Safety Program, our agency— Massachusetts Institute of Technology EMS—believed we could do better. One look at the videos used in that program will convince even the most skeptical that the back of the bus is a dangerous place to work. This is how we decided to try to make a vehicle that would be safer for everyone involved in EMS transport, both patients and staff. First we contacted Nadine Levick, MD, head of the EMS Safety Foundation and EMS' well-known safety guru. We had a video conference with her in which she gave her input, with all appropriate best practices in place. In all honesty, she was not pleased with the result—her problem wasn't with the concept itself, but she felt we had not gone far enough, that there was more that we could do. We looked at other innovative designs and researched local providers. We contacted the Massachusetts Office of Emergency Medical Services, in particular its Division of Ambulance Regulation. This was preemptive. We had to know what our legal parameters were. The state's Bud McDonough was a font of information, directing us to others who had started down this road. He suggested we look at Massachusetts- based Brewster EMS, which had different seat designs, cabinet designs and struc- tural innovations. When all was said and done, we found we needed to look at designs that were compatible with current EMS practices, could be flexible, had room to accommodate more than two staffers, and fit the needs of staffers from outside the service (our local ALS service, Professional Ambulance, also had to be able to function in the ambulance). With these parameters in mind, we attempted | By Mark Forgues, MEd, EMT-P HOW Panoramic view of the interior of the ambulance. Note the lack of "strike zones." Photos by Lawrence Man Kit Wong, MIT EMS We Built a Better Ambulance EMSWORLD.com | APRIL 2014 37 EMS_37-38_BuiltAmbulance.indd 37 3/13/14 2:41 PM